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AIA

KAI Enterprises, an integrated architectural, engineering and construction services firm, is pleased to announce that long-time Dallas community leader Darren L. James, AIA, has been named President of KAI Enterprises. The leadership change reflects the company’s vision to grow, connect and transform communities across the country.

James, a shareholder in the company since 2010 and formerly the President and COO of KAI Texas, will explore innovative ways in his new role to increase and expand KAI’s national presence and develop and oversee the sales and marketing strategy for each of KAI Enterprises’ four business units: KAI Design, KAI Engineering, KAI Build and KAI 360 Construction Services (KAI 360 CS).

“Darren’s experience has been instrumental in creating growth for the company. Over the past 13 years, his strong leadership and dedication has been invaluable to the organization,” said Michael Kennedy, Jr., CEO of KAI Enterprises. “We are excited about the impact his new leadership role will have on achieving KAI’s overall mission and goals as president of the holding company.”

For over a decade, James has been a member of KAI’s Corporate Leadership Team helping to set the strategic tone and direction for offices across the country. James has focused his corporate efforts on strategic growth, team building, marketing and communications; and his external efforts on civic engagement, community building, education, mentoring and outreach.

James joined KAI in 1993 as a recent graduate of the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Urban Design where he served a variety of roles within the organization. Upon becoming a registered architect, he transitioned from design production to business activities. James became a Business Development Specialist, learning how to run and manage a design firm. Showing success in the St. Louis market, gaining private and public clients, James approached KAI leadership to begin marketing and sales opportunities on a national level.

In 2002, James was selected to help establish and grow KAI’s presence in the Dallas area. His vision was to create a firm that not only serviced KAI’s clients, but also the patrons of those facilities, environments and the community at large. With the growth and success of large-scale, transformative community projects, in 2005, James was appointed President & COO of KAI Texas where he focused on continuing to grow the firm’s reach and commitment to the Texas market. James’ client list includes some of the most pivotal agencies and private sector entities in Dallas, San Antonio, St. Louis, Atlanta and Omaha where KAI’s regional offices are located as well as Austin, Houston and Fort Worth. KAI expanded to Atlanta and Omaha in 2010 where James led sales efforts, office growth and large-scale projects in both locations as well as St. Louis.

James has always been passionate about community-focused initiatives and has served on numerous non-profit and for-profit boards. He has served in leadership positions on some of the largest, most influential Boards of Directors such as Big Brother Big Sisters of Dallas County, Community Council of Greater Dallas, Minority Design Professionals Council and Dallas Center for Architecture. James currently serves on the Trinity Park Conservancy, Dallas Regional Chamber, VISIT Dallas, and Dallas Citizen’s Council Boards of Directors. Additionally, James is Chairman of the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce and the President of the Board for Fair Park First.

KAI Enterprises is a national design and build firm providing delivery-oriented building solutions with a diverse portfolio of experience, in-house multi-discipline professionals, and expertise in both design and construction delivery. To learn more about KAI, visit www.kai-db.com.

Jacobs, who was hired in November 2016 as Vice President and Senior Project Manager, will replace Marcus Moomey, AIA, DBIA, who is moving from the Director of Design position to a new position as Director of Design-Build.

As Director of Design, Jacobs will provide overall leadership for KAI’s Architecture and Interior Design practice and foster a climate focused on collaboration within KAI’s multi-disciplined teams, delivering design and build solutions on complex projects. Jacobs will also represent KAI in the community by participating in professional organizations, speaking engagements and civic events.

Jacobs has more than 30 years of management, collaboration, master planning and design experience. His extensive portfolio includes projects within the healthcare, education, religious, and corporate industries. Jacobs will oversee 36 employees at KAI offices in St. Louis, Dallas, Atlanta, San Antonio and Omaha.

“Todd is a demonstrated leader as an active member of the American Institute of Architects and past president of the St. Louis Chapter. We are delighted to elevate Todd to this leadership role where he will drive the quality of our design work to satisfy our customers’ needs,” said Michael Hein, AIA, PMP, Chief Integration Officer at KAI.

Major projects Jacobs has worked on while at KAI include:

St. Louis Community College – Center for Nursing and Health Sciences

Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation & Aquatic Center – Atlanta

Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being – St. Louis

SSM North County Pediatric Clinic – St. Louis

Jacobs, a registered architect in Missouri and Illinois, has a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Kansas State University. He is a member of the KSU Professional Advisory Board, St. Louis Construction Forum Advisory Board and several AIA committees.

Marcus Adrian, AIA, LEED BD+C, a principal at Mackey Mitchell Architects, will be speaking at TEDxGatewayArch’s “Ripple Effect” event at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on October 27.

Adrian will discuss the architecture of schools and classrooms, and how design can be improved through a deeper understanding of human ability. The talk will focus on design strategies he’s developed for deaf and other specialized schools, and explain how those strategies can benefit every learner and every school.

Adrian’s interest in this topic began with one project – Central Institute for the Deaf School, in 1998. He was fascinated by the seemingly counter-intuitive idea that a deaf school should be as quiet as we can make it. That’s when he learned that human ability is a wildly complex thing, and poses limitless design challenges.

Marcus has been designing schools and classrooms around differences in human ability and human brain development. He started with designing around the auditory sense, including the acoustics of separation and reverberation and designing to elevate signal and reduce noise. Over the years, those signal-to-noise strategies have extended to the other senses, primarily the visual, to create better classrooms and schools. He had a major breakthrough when he realized signal and noise strategies apply to other dimensions of human ability beyond the sensory, including human social and cognitive development.

TEDxGatewayArch Ripple Effect begins at 5 p.m. with a Happy Hour, followed by 14 live Tedx talks. Tickets are $25 and are on sale now at www.tedxgatewayarch.org.

Arcturis, celebrating their 40th anniversary this year, has received recognition from the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) as part of the 2017 AIA annual awards.

Arcturis received an AIA Distinguished Award for the St. Louis Science Center’s GROW Pavilion. Inspired by the simple elegance of typical farm structures and evoking the profile of a plow or scythe the Agriculture Pavilion is envisioned as a graceful curvilinear structure opening to and connecting with the surrounding outdoor exhibitions where visitors can study about food production from farm to fork.

Arcturis also received an AIA Distinguished Award for their Service Center project. The design embraces a minimalist aesthetic that celebrates the utilitarian nature of the program and elevates the user experience through transparency, access to natural light and connections to the outdoors.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) St. Louis Chapter celebrated excellence in the built environment with its Design Awards celebration held on September 22 at Laumeier Sculpture Park. Through a juried process, projects in various categories were recognized for outstanding qualities in design and craftsmanship.

This year, Christner took home a record seven awards in various categories including architecture, interiors, unbuilt and craftsmanship. Projects recognized include the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Climate Corporation, Edward Jones Parking Garage, St. Louis County Library Grant’s View Branch, Knox College Field Station, and Shriners Hospitals for Children – St. Louis.

The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) was positive in July for the sixth consecutive month, and tenth out of the last twelve months as demand across all project types continued to increase. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the July ABI score was 51.5, down from the mark of 52.6 in the previous month. This score still reflects an increase in design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 57.5, down from a reading of 58.6 the previous month.

“The uncertainty surrounding the presidential election is causing some funding decisions regarding larger construction projects to be delayed or put on hold for the time being,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “It’s likely that these concerns will persist up until the election, and therefore we would expect higher levels of volatility in the design and construction sector in the months ahead.”